Bullshido still makes me angry

So, I haven't been really involved too much with Bullshido lately but interesting enough Bullshido always seems to find you. I had a long conversation today with a friend that in retrospect I thought was worth reposting here.

A few months ago a friend of mine who is a BJJ Blue Belt, took a temporary change in his position that has taken him to a place without BJJ. The closest he was able to find was a Japanese Jujutsu instructor. I gave him the standard quality warnings and let it be.

Fast forward to today. He explained to me that he was grappling with the black belt that runs the academy when he sunk in a tight armbar. Instead of tapping, the instructor bit his leg in order to escape. He said he let go and just laughed and instructor laughed said in a real fight anything goes.

Honestly, I flipped a ****. That is not cool. There is a trust with your training partners. When we are on the mat we are training, not fighting. You tap, you ask me to stop, I will stop. I expect the same from the people I am training with. There is no winning or losing on the mat, there is training, save the winning for competition or a real fight. What this was is a violation of his trust.

This is what really happened, the instructor's ego could not have him "lose" inside his little dominion. Therefore, he escalated a training session from training to a fight. Once you go into bitting, you are now fighting. The instructor is counting on this escalation to be a surprise and cause the lock to release. Well, you don't start a fight from an inferior position. In my opinion once you start to escalate the training session into a fight, its a fight. You do not let go and go for the break not the tap. If they decide to tap at this point it is honestly your decision to stop, you don't have to, they started this fight. If you do let go before the break, explain that the you are under the impression you were training not fighting and if they can't understand the difference you leave.

Biting is a bitch move, from a bitch with no technique. If you need to bite to get out of an armbar, why are you bothering to train? So remember, if you are planning to bite your way out of a submission during training, you made the training session into a fight and you started this fight in the worst place you could, already in a submission.

If they both laughed about it afterwards, the instructor must not have bitten hard enough to hurt your friend. He may have been seeking to graphically make a point. Has your friend given you any other indications that the instructor is arrogant or insecure?

He explained to me that he was grappling with the black belt that runs the academy when he sunk in a tight armbar. Instead of tapping, the instructor bit his leg in order to escape. He said he let go and just laughed and instructor laughed said in a real fight anything goes.

Reminds me of this:

“… not too long ago when I was teaching a seminar... one of my 6th kyu Green Belts easily submitted a 12th Dan in the Bujinkan in less than 20 seconds. It was a real wake-up call for me and my student as to the state of the Bujinkan. Not so much a wake-up call for the 12th Dan though. He quickly tried to logically explain his reason for losing (typical of Bujinkan practitioners). In the real battle, he would be dead. Period. With his 12th Dan and funny vest.

That's from Sean Askew.

Here's the part I especially like:

He quickly tried to logically explain his reason for losing (typical of Bujinkan practitioners). In the real battle, he would be dead. Period.

(Although the funny vest part is cute too.)

Ever since reading this, I try to remember two things that I think are important to training:
1.) "Failure" on the mat is a gift because it has no serious consequences and shows me where I need to work to improve. There's no place for excuses.
2.) You only bring the training you've got to a real fight, so you better make the most of your training time. There will be no opportunity for excuses.

I'm only human, so it's not always easy to live by these lessons. But in the long run, I realize I can't accept my own excuses; that wouldn't be training, that is self-delusion.

It's too bad the JJJ black belt in your story hasn't figured this out. You're right, biting isn't simply a dirty trick tactic, it's really a type of "excuse" because it allows him to conveinently ignore the truth that he was effectively submitted.

If they both laughed about it afterwards, the instructor must not have bitten hard enough to hurt your friend. He may have been seeking to graphically make a point. Has your friend given you any other indications that the instructor is arrogant or insecure?

I didn't ask for more info. When I told him I would of broken his arm, he responded that the instructor deserved respect and he couldn't do that to him. That is when I ranted that the instructor disrespected him by biting him. He never told me the bite was playful or to prove a point, just to escape.